Upright travel trunk: 20th century

Full image caption

Upright travel trunk. This trunk belonged to Dr Alice Seelig, who first used it when she left home to study medicine in Germany. The trunk, when open, is divided into two areas: one half of the trunk contains nine drawers of differing sizes and the other half is an area for hanging clothes. The Seelig family were middle-class German Jews living in Dresden. In April 1939 the family made plans to escape their homeland and travel to England. As they fled, the Nazis stopped their possessions from leaving Germany with them, and the Seeligs arrived in London with only this trunk containing everyday essentials, some objects to sell, photographs, and a prayer book.